Police and prison officers will be the first to benefit from a Government decision to scrap the public sector pay cap – but what’s on offer has come under fire from unions representing workers in the two organisations.

For the last four years, salary increases have been capped at one per cent due to austerity. It has meant their wage packets have failed to keep pace with inflation.

This week, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet confirmed a one per cent rise for police in 2017/18, along with a one per cent bonus. Prison officers will receive a 1.7 per cent pay rise. In both cases, they will be funded from existing budgets.

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But police say they have been left feeling undervalued and short-changed, with some branding the plans as 'pathetic'.

News of the cap being lifted comes as inflation rose unexpectedly to 2.9 per cent last month.

Keith Jervis, Federation chairman, says cops will feel undervalued

Nationally, police officers are predicted to be left ‘angry and deflated’ by the pay award – following a requested 2.8 per cent rise in basic pay.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “We were not greedy in what we asked for. Officers have been taking home about 15 per cent less than they were seven years ago.”

The announcement is also set against a backdrop of 'changing crime', with devastating terror attacks seeing emergency services work long hours and win deserved plaudits from across the country.

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“We have seen a reduction in officers in Staffordshire from about 2,400 to 1,600, but operational demand and scrutiny of everything officers do becomes more intense.

“Officers have every right to feel that the Government does not value them.”

Staffordshire's police and crime commissioner, Matthew Ellis, said: "Police officers are working harder than ever to keep people across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent safe. The Government’s announcement of a 1 per cent ‘bonus’ for police officers is justifiable.

"However, the ability to pay locally for a backdated and unplanned cost like this varies across the country. Some areas have hoarded local people’s money in the bank as reserves, but in Staffordshire I have limited ‘just in case’ reserves to adequate and safe rather than excessive.

"Retrospective calls for vast sums on this scale make it very difficult for me to plan what I provide to the chief constable for policing.

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"My call on Government remains that they should remove the council tax restriction (cap) so that police and crime commissioners can raise what is needed locally and then justify those decisions by being accountable locally.

"Of course, I will make this current bonus situation work in Staffordshire, but we must also consider the work of everybody who works in policing, not only police officers."

During Prime Minister’s Questions this week, Mrs May defended the Government’s stance and said officers have seen an increase in their take-home pay of 32 per cent above inflation over the past seven years.

She said: “A calculation suggests that a new police officer in 2010, thanks to progression pay and annual basic salary increases and the increase in the personal allowance that is a tax cut for people, has actually seen an increase in their pay of over £9,000 since 2010 – a real-terms increase of 32 per cent.”

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Meanwhile, leaders for prison officers are not happy with the announcement either.Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “I have made it clear that it is a pay cut. It is not acceptable. Our executive will be looking to co-ordinate action with other trade unions.”

Next year’s pay settlements for other parts of the public sector, such as the NHS, have yet to be decided. However, it has been reported that the existing cap is at an end.

He added: “I don’t see why this hasn’t all been announced at the same time. It's splitting the public sector and making staff question if the Government regard them as highly as the police.

“They are also having to wait for the announcement and are missing out. Nurses will start on £21,000 and that is after years of studying. They will have to work between seven and eight years before reaching £28,000 and these are people making life and death decisions on a daily basis.

“I know unions have asked for a five per cent rise, but I can’t see it happening. We went around on Wednesday giving out pasta pots to staff as many don’t have chance to take a break. A few said to us, ‘is this what we’re getting for a pay rise?', which shows how they feel.”